TI Calls Babis’s Attacks Baseless

Transparency International responds to accusations made by Czech PM Andrej Babis.

Responding to statements in the media and during a recent press conference by Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, the managing director of Transparency International’s global secretariat in Berlin has affirmed that TI Česká republika (TI CZ) has acted in keeping with the anti-corruption movement’s core values and mission.

At his official press conference on Thursday 4 October, PM Babiš revived allegations that TI CZ are “liars”. The Czech Prime Minister has previously told The Guardian that Transparency International “spreads nonsense”, following a complaint lodged by the chapter with the European Commission over his alleged conflict of interests.

In June 2018, an investigation by TI CZ revealed that Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is the beneficial owner of AGROFERT Group, which receives significant funds from the European Union through agricultural subsidies and has holdings in the media industry.

“In their investigation and revelation of Prime Minister Babiš’s commercial interests, Transparency International Czech Republic have been diligent and have acted in line with the core values and mission of our global anti-corruption movement,” said Patricia Moreira, Managing Director, Transparency International. “Our principle of non-political partisanship does not preclude TI chapters from exposing and denouncing corruption or conflict of interests in politics.”